Hey, friends! I had a moment — a long moment, maybe years — to consider the much-derided owner, the team and what it all means. Here’s an excerpt from TrueHoop’s TrueCities project (It’s a great series, by the way. If you haven’t checked out other ClipperBlog contributions to it, do so here and here):

Doc Rivers pumped his fists in the air. The Clippers were on the brink of eliminating the Golden State Warriors in a hard-fought Game 7, and he wanted to share a moment with the crowd.

You’ll have to excuse the long-time Clippers fans who experienced a moment of hesitation instead. There was still time on the clock, after all, and if any team could allow an unprecedented five-point play at the buzzer, well, you know how the old saying goes: It’s the Clippers.

Please understand that’s a conditioned response more than anything else. Seasoned fans of the team tend to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting for the other shoe to drop, having already been robbed of the innocence necessary for unbridled optimism.

Just in the past decade: Raja Bell’s corner 3 over Daniel Ewing, Shaun Livingston’s knee exploding in a million pieces, Elton Brand’s departure, Baron Davis’ failure to arrive, Neil Olshey leaving and Vinny Del Negro staying. How many times can you get your heart broken before you start to protect against it?

Time helps, of course, and the significance of each of those moments faded with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, but one constant remained present during it all — one Donald T. Sterling.

By the way, the shadow isnt lifted until the paperwork is signed. We all know this thing will drag on in the courts for years. Effectively, Sterling no longer has control. I think even DTS realizes he should keep quiet until the playoffs are over. Like you said…waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The thing scaring me on the back end of this is that Hansen/Ballmer throw whatever money it takes to move the Clippers to Seattle. I desperately want the team to stay in LA. As much as I love Magic, I’d much rather the Geffen/Ellison/Oprah team wins the bid.

After 20 years of Cheapskate Sterling, imagine the Clippers owned by Larry Ellison. He’ll make Dolan and Prokohorov look like thrifty shoppers.

Alfredo Rodriguez

That is why the only way the Clippers can truly get rid of Donald Sterling once and for all is if they go deep into the playoffs and win the NBA Championship. It’s almost like a video game (let’s say for the sake of argument, Super Mario Bros.) where you’re a plumber from the real world who has to rescue the princess of a kingdom from a villainous reptilian demon. Video games don’t last one round; they’re always broken up into stages, and you have to beat every stage, each one containing a unique obstacle, until you reach the final level where you get to confront the master enemy. Beating the enemy means breaking the spell, thus beating the game.

The Clippers are in that video game storyline right now. As long as there is games to be played, the Donald Sterling scandal will continue to make national news. The deeper they get into the playoffs, the dirtier the laundry, and in fact, it won’t be long until the media gets down to the roots of the scandal when Donald Sterling helped Dr. Jerry Buss purchase the Lakers, creating a conspiracy that the Clippers were more than just little brother to the purple and gold. The Clippers will have to persevere through such trials and tribulations until they win the title. Once they do, the basketball gods will grant the Clippers their happily ever after.